The GAIA Collection

Armadillo’s newly launched GAIA Collection was created in collaboration with the multi-disciplinary Catalonian artist, Carla Cascales Alimbau. Evoking landscapes shaped by wind, water, and time, the highly sculptural and painterly pieces are an ode to the quiet power of nature. 

Discover how the creative partnership between Cascales Alimbau and Armadillo's co-founders, Jodie Fried and Sally Pottharst, evolved. This journey began in Cascales Alimbau’s Barcelona studio and traversed India where master artisans pushed the technical boundaries of wool carving and capturing subtle tonal gradients in ways not achieved in the rug market before. What results are pieces that are artworks in their own right – rugs designed to not only to inhabit as space but quietly transform it.

"Carla’s work is incredibly feminine and beautiful, yet raw, strong, and powerful – a combination that deeply resonated with me."

- Jodie Fried

What drew you to collaborate with Carla, and how did the partnership evolve?

Jodie: I had admired Carla’s work for some time, appreciating the natural beauty and diverse sculptural skills she brings to her practice. A mutual friend introduced us. From the moment we connected, there was an immediate synergy. Carla’s work is incredibly feminine and beautiful, yet raw, strong, and powerful – a combination that deeply resonated with me.

How did Carla’s unique style influence the design or concept of the new collection?

Jodie: Over the course of three and a half years, we spent a great deal of time together – much of it in her Barcelona studio – immersing ourselves in her work. Ultimately, it was her resin paintings and terracotta series that became the key inspiration, offering a natural foundation from which to evolve the designs into a new medium: rugs. Carla’s work is calm, evocative, and deeply textural – qualities that align beautifully with Armadillo’s ethos. Together, we translated that essence into pieces that are soft and elegant, yet grounding underfoot.

"What moves me most are the cycles of nature – how everything flows, returns, transforms."

- Carla Cascales Alimbau

Carla, can you share how your connection to nature influenced the designs in this collection?

Carla: Nature is always at the heart of my work, not only as a visual reference, but as a way of understanding time, rhythm, and presence. For this collection, the Mediterranean landscape was a quiet guide: the horizon line of the sea, the changing light, the earth tones, and the textures shaped by wind and salt.

What moves me most are the cycles of nature – how everything flows, returns, transforms. I wanted the rugs to carry that same feeling: of groundedness, of calm, of being in tune with something much older than ourselves.

How did working with new materials like silk, wool, and jute influence your approach to this project?

Carla: It pushed me to be more tactile in my thinking. I had to imagine how the rugs would feel underfoot, how light would move across them, how they would live in a space. That shift in perspective expanded my understanding of what a surface can be, and how material can become a carrier of emotion.

Each material has its own expressive language, its own behavior, and learning how to listen to that was both a challenge and a gift. Wool brings warmth and softness, jute adds an earthy roughness, and silk offers a subtle luminosity.

Each rug is a kind of landscape, not just to observe, but to inhabit. Through texture, tone, and material, I hoped to create a gentle connection to nature and to ourselves. A space for presence, for grounding, for quiet beauty.

What role does color play in the collection?

Carla: The colors and tones also play a key role. They come from the natural pigments that I use in my paintings. They have earthy, terracotta hues that echo the colors we see in nature, as well as in our own skin and bodies. They ground us in something primal and universal.

How does this collection fit into Armadillo’s broader vision or evolution?

Sally: It marks a significant evolution for Armadillo. It allowed us to push the boundaries of creating depth and dimension in ways we hadn’t seen in the market before. We worked closely with Carla and our artisans in India to develop a unique approach to carving – introducing varied pile heights to create a layered, almost poured-resin effect inspired by her paintings. This resulted in the Marea series, and was a major technical achievement. It required intensive training and communication with our weavers to bring it to life.

Another exciting development was the introduction of ultra-low pile rugs using oxidised silk and wool – a first for us. Crafted by a new group of artisans in India, this resulted in the Alma series. The rugs embody a sense of erosion and terrain, echoing the weathered beauty of Carla’s terracotta works. Combined, these two signature series are testimony to Armadillo’s ever-evolving artistic enquiry and innovation.

"I wanted them to offer a space for stillness, where the body feels held and the mind can rest."

- Carla Cascales Alimbau

How do these pieces in particular alter the way you experience the new collection?

Jodie: Entwining Carla’s artistry with the profound skills of our artisan weavers, these highly sculptural and painterly pieces are artworks in their own right and deserve to be appreciated like fine art. They bear testimony to the company’s ongoing preservation of artisanal skills and the evolution of those anew to pass on to future generations.

What emotions or stories are you hoping people experience when they see or touch these rugs? 

Carla: People don’t just see the pieces – they touch them with their hands, with their feet, and sit on them. The rugs become part of their daily rituals. That kind of intimacy is rare in painting or sculpture, and I find it incredibly beautiful. I wanted them to offer a space for stillness, where the body feels held and the mind can rest.

Carla, were there any unexpected challenges or discoveries during the process of adapting your work into rugs?

Carla: Working with the artisans and weavers was incredibly humbling. There’s a quiet wisdom in craft that speaks of time, tradition, and dedication. Their knowledge, precision, and patience opened my eyes to a way of making that is both rigorous and poetic. Every knot, every thread, carries intention, nothing is rushed, nothing is accidental.

One of the most delicate challenges was translating the color gradients that are so central to my work. On canvas, they emerge fluidly, almost like breath, but in weaving, each thread holds a fixed tone. We had to carefully orchestrate different yarns to recreate that softness, allowing the colors to dissolve into one another with subtlety and depth.

Another challenge was volume. My paintings often use dense resin, which dries slowly, forming raised surfaces that cast shadows and bring light into motion. To echo that sculptural quality in thread – a material inherently flat – we played with varying pile heights, shaping texture as if it were light itself.

What feeling do you hope people will take away from this collaboration?

Sally: Carla and Armadillo’s harmonious design language shares a reverence for nature, for simplicity and for craft, centered around the thoughtful trace of the human hand. The rugs reserve a space for stillness within the home. Their sensorial beauty acts as a reminder to live purposefully knowing that everything flows and transforms, and to accept change calmly and graciously.